Reports: 30GB Zune Players Malfunction

Multiple reports of problems with Microsoft's 30GB Zune players are flooding tech blogs today (Dec. 31). The issue - which seemed to hit a sizable number of players in the market, all at once, early this morning - seems to be that the Zunes are resetting, loading and then freezing during the load process. There's no indication how many players have been affected. Microsoft's Zune site says the company is attempting to resolve the issue. Below, a quick round-up from around the Web of the reported issue to this point.

CrunchGear: "Real early this morning, a bunch of Zune 30s just stopped working...we might have a gadget Y2K going on here. Fan boards and support forums all have the same mantra saying that at 2:00 AM this morning, the Zune 30s reset on their own and doesn't fully reboot."

Gizmodo: "What hasn't emerged yet...is why these devices are failing. The evidence seems to point to a software glitch, but simple resets aren't providing any relief. Some reports indicate that only Zunes with the latest firmware are affected, but this hasn't yet been confirmed."

CNET: "Some users reported the problem happened at exactly midnight PST, at the very beginning of the last day of the year, leading some wags to call the problem Z2K after the Y2K problem that was widely feared to cripple the computing industry when computer clocks moved from 1999 to 2000."

Engadget: "The official Zune site now has a message stating that Redmond's best are aware of the problem and 'are working to correct it.'"

Zune site: "Customers with 30gb Zune devices may experience issues when booting their Zune hardware. We're aware of the problem and are working to correct it. Sorry for the inconvenience, and thanks for your patience!"